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The world economy is highly dependent on energy. As we move forward,
more and more of that energy will have to come from so-called
“alternative” energy sources, such as geothermal.

The world economy is highly dependent on energy. As we move forward, more and more of that energy will have to come from so-called “alternative” energy sources, such as geothermal.

The event got underway on the morning of Nov. 15 with breakfast and an opportunity for attendees to visit the accompanying trade show. This was followed up with opening remarks by CGC president Denis Tanguay and the keynote address by Denis Durand.

Although the schedule allowed for a short networking break after the keynote address, attendees were soon back in their seats for the first of many education and technical sessions.

Attendees had a choice of two topics for the first session: “Policies and regulations in the GSHP industry,” moderated by Don Bergler of Terasen, and “Research & Development,” moderated by Omer Lemay of Hydro-Quebec.

“Policies and regulations in the GSHP industry” consisted of three segments. Phillipe Dunsky of Dunsky Energy Consulting filled attendees in on overcoming capital costs and unleashing GSHP demand through innovative financing. Dunsky was followed by Miche Lamanque of Natural Resources Canada, who spoke on recent changes to the national energy code for buildings. Finally, Denis Tanguay of the CGC spoke on the effectiveness and efficiency (or lack thereof) of the current codes, standards and regulations.

The “Research & Development” stream consisted of two presentations. They were “Integrating Geothermal into Hydronics” by Mike Miller of Uponor Canada, and Amine Yahiaoui of CanmetENERGIE’s study of two system configurations: direct expansion and CO₂ with phase change.